With a chance to decide their own playoff matchup, the Ottawa 67’s laid an egg Sunday afternoon at TD Place arena, losing 3-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Now, the 67’s will have to wait to see what happens when the Sudbury Wolves face the Mississauga IceDogs on Tuesday night.

A Sudbury win would vault the Wolves ahead of the 67’s into sixth in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. By finishing seventh, the 67’s would draw mighty Mississauga in the first round of the playoffs. If Sudbury loses Tuesday, the 67’s will open postseason play against Oshawa, a team they beat 5-2 on Saturday.

Either way, the 67’s will have playoff games on the road next Friday and Sunday, followed by home dates March 28 and 30.

“Apparently we wanted to play Mississauga,” 67’s coach Jeff Brown said. “That’s as bad as we’ve played all year. The last four periods of the season have been just atrocious. We had a chance to clinch sixth and we come up with that effort.

“We had (13) shots. How do you get that many shots at home? Let`s not kid ourselves, that could have been a six- or seven-goal game. Leo (Lazarev, 67’s netminder) made some unbelievable saves. I don’t know what happened. The coaches are dumbfounded. As soon as we got up 5-0 (against Oshawa on Saturday), something happened. A lot of the old stuff’s creeping back into our game.”

The 67’s took a 1-0 lead 1:09 into the game, when Artur Tyanulin streaked down the left wing and fed a nifty backhand pass to Austen Keating for a tap-in.

Hamilton’s Matthew Strome was awarded a penalty shot early in the second period, but was turned aside by Lazarev. Later in the period, Will Bitten, who’s from Gloucester and was playing against younger brother Sam for the first time in the OHL, was stopped on a breakaway. There was also a spirited fight between Ottawa’s Hudson Wilson and Hamilton’s Reilly Webb.

With 15:24 left in the third period, Cole Candella tied it for Hamilton. Then Michael Cramarossa made it 2-1, and Hamilton closed the door with 1:18 left on Matt Luff’s goal.

On some nights, the 67’s could chalk up lapses to a lineup with plenty of younger players. Not Sunday.

“It was the decision-making by our best players,” Brown said. “The one line that’s been carrying us for the past two months was terrible. It wasn’t just that they were terrible, it was (also) the decisions of staying out on the ice for a minute and a half (at a time) and turning the puck over.”

The 67’s split their season series against the IceDogs (4-4-0) and won it the Generals (5-2-1).

“We have to prepare for two teams,” Brown said. “We’ve competed well against Oshawa, and Mississauga’s beat us bad a couple of times. Listen, it’s the playoffs. A lot can change. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. If we play like we did the last four periods, we’ll be out pretty quickly. When we play the right way, we’ll be a tough out no matter who we play.”

BITTEN BROS LINE UP

For Sam Bitten, playing against his older brother Will was a big deal.

Sam, the 67’s centre, was lined up against Will, the Hamilton Bulldogs centre, at an opening faceoff orchestrated by the two coaches Sunday.

It was the first time the Gloucester-raised kids had played against each other.

Sam won the faceoff, but Will’s Bulldogs won the battle - 3-1 - in the final regular-season games for both teams.

“I’ve been watching him play since I was seven or eight years old,” said Sam, who turns 17 on Tuesday. “I still have to pinch myself, playing in this league, first time playing against him. I think he let me win the draw, but I’ll take it.”

The brothers are close, always have been. Will, who’s 18, was selected in the third round of last year’s NHL draft (70th overall) by Montreal.

“I went to tournaments in Toronto to watch him play, I was there when he got drafted into the OHL,” said Sam. “When he got drafted by Montreal, I sat right beside him cheering him on.”

On Sunday, there were about 30 family members plus some friends watching the game at TD Place. The two brothers also had some on-ice banter, once during an on-ice scrum.

Said Sam with a laugh: “I asked him, ‘I don’t know who Mom’s cheering for, but I hope she’s cheering for me.’ He said, ‘No, she’s definitely cheering for me.’ I asked him to fight, but he didn’t want to.”

Sam, who models his game after Jamie Benn, said they had some fun during the warmup, too: “I was shooting pucks at his feet a bit, but he was doing it back.”

The 67’s hoped to acquire Will from Flint in the off-season, but he wound up with the Bulldogs instead.

“I would have loved to have had (Will),” said 67’s coach Jeff Brown. “Sam’s going to be a good player for us for a long time. It’s a great family, great kids.”

Out of their hands

Awful effort means 67's lose both game and chance to control fate as playoffs approach

With a chance to decide their own playoff matchup, the Ottawa 67’s laid an egg Sunday afternoon at TD Place arena, losing 3-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Now, the 67’s will have to wait to see what happens when the Sudbury Wolves face the Mississauga IceDogs on Tuesday night.

A Sudbury win would vault the Wolves ahead of the 67’s into sixth in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. By finishing seventh, the 67’s would draw mighty Mississauga in the first round of the playoffs. If Sudbury loses Tuesday, the 67’s will open postseason play against Oshawa, a team they beat 5-2 on Saturday.

Either way, the 67’s will have playoff games on the road next Friday and Sunday, followed by home dates March 28 and 30.

“Apparently we wanted to play Mississauga,” 67’s coach Jeff Brown said. “That’s as bad as we’ve played all year. The last four periods of the season have been just atrocious. We had a chance to clinch sixth and we come up with that effort.